Senate Farm Bill Hearing, "Healthy Food Initiatives, Local Production and Nutrition"

Vilsack: Local food is "one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture;" Downloads of witness testimony...
Washington, DC: On Wednesday morning, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry held a Farm Bill hearing on "Healthy Food Initiatives, Local Production and Nutrition," with six witnesses testifying, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The hearing comes on the heels of the release of USDA's new report to Congress about local and regional food initiatives, the digital document "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass," which was the subject of a national virtual conversation from the White House on Monday.

Committee Chairwoman Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) opened the hearing by noting that locally grown foods are helping create new market opportunities for farmers and agriculture producers across the country, while also helping to provide families greater access to healthy and nutritious foods. Witnesses during their testimony covered everything from the impact of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign to farm to institution sourcing; the importance of federal nutrition programs including SNAP for combating hunger; the growing demand for farmers markets; to the importance of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, as well the benefits of local food initiatives in a tough economy, including the healthy impact on jobs.

Stabenow said that food hubs and local food systems are a ‘win-win’ for agriculture, and helping to re-introduce agriculture to a younger generation of up-and-coming farmers and ranchers.

“We also know how important local food systems have been in this difficult economy. Food policy councils, farmers markets, co-ops, and food hubs are bringing farmers together with low-income school districts, food banks, and grocers in food deserts to provide fruits, vegetables and other healthy products to families in need,” Stabenow said.

During his testimony, Sec. Vilsack cited the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, and hailed local food as "one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture." Direct consumer sales have doubled in the past decade to reach close to $5 billion in 2008, he said.

"More than ever, consumers are interested in where their food comes from and are seeking out a connection to the men and women who put food on our tables," Vilsack said. "Buyers in every sector of the food system have increased local food purchases, and conversations between farmers and consumers are taking place every day in every part of the country."

Still, USDA does not have a hard definition for "local," and will decline to create a legal definition for "local," Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said during the White House virtual conversation. She is the architect of Know Your Farmer, and said defining the term "local" would limit efforts to build vibrant food systems that best serve all constituencies, from producers and growers to consumers.

Witnesses included Ron McCormick, Senior Director of Local Sourcing & Sustainable Agriculture for Walmart, the largest private-sector partner for the Let's Move! campaign. McCormick discussed the company's partnership with Let's Move!, and noted that Walmart is now sourcing nearly 11% of its produce "locally" for its more than 3,800 outlets in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. In some states, more than 50% of Walmart's sales are through the use of federal SNAP benefits, also known as Food Stamps, according to the company.

Also testifying: Jody Hardin, a fifth-generation family farmer from Grady, Arkansas, and co-founder of the Foodshed Farm All Arkansas Basket-A-Month program, which is based at Hardin Farm in Grady; Anne Goodman, President and CEO of Cleveland Foodbank; Dan Carmody, President, Eastern Market Corporation, of Detroit, MI, which runs one of the largest urban farmers markets in the US, as well as other food access projects; and John Weidman, Deputy Executive Director, Food Trust, Philadelphia, PA. The Food Trust is a non-profit that works on healthy food access issues, including farm to school sourcing and bringing healthy foods into "underserved" communities.

The testimony...

Sec. Tom Vilsack, Testimony: DOWNLOAD HERE

Dan Carmody, Eastern Market Corp, Testimony: DOWNLOAD HERE

Ron McCormick, Walmart, Testimony: DOWNLOAD HERE
Jody Hardin, Arkansas, Farmer, Testimony: DOWNLOAD HERE

Anne Goodman, Cleveland Food Bank, Testimony:  DOWNLOAD HERE
John Weidman, Food Trust, Testimony:  DOWNLOAD HERE

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